When does marketing consultant Brian Norris come up with his
best bursts of creativity? When he's cutting the grass, mopping
the floors or dusting the shelves of his Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
home office.

"Anything that gets me out of my normal routine is good for
creative fluency," says Norris, a professional speaker who
often achieves "Eureka!" while watching lousy speakers in
action. "Even watching a boring speaker is prime time because
it gives my mind time to wander."

Norris' inspirational hot spots seem to work for others as
well. In fact, boring meetings rank fifth and mowing the yard ranks
10th among the leading places to generate new ideas, according to
Chic Thompson, president of the Creative Management
Group, a homebased creative consulting firm in Keswick,
Virginia.

Thompson, an illustrator and artist, started his own creative
workshop after departing Disney in 1977. "All my ideas got
killed," he says of his experience with the Mouse. Thompson
now surveys attendees at his annual seminars on curiosity and
creativity to see what the creative hot spots are. Some are
understandable; others are interesting, to say the least, he
admits.

Mowing the lawn is among the top spots for men, Thompson says.
Any rote project that has a finite term and leads directly to
completion-along with the monotonous sounds, pacing and time
dedicated to the process-is good for the mind. "You're
just totally letting go," he says. "You're
zoning."

Atop Thompson's own list: doodling with his left (or
nondominant) hand, and taking a shower or a bubble bath with the
lights out and lavender candles burning. "If I don't get
something or if I can't [envision it], I'll read it over
right before I go into the bath," he says.

While food doesn't show up on Thompson's list, water is
his idea elixir. Not coffee or soda, mind you. Water. It helps
hydrate the body and eliminate headaches. And since Thompson then
has to break away from the computer every hour or so, it helps
provide additional diversion, he admits.

Most of all, though, people need to spur their own creativity,
he says. When brainstorming a new idea, ditch the linear thought.
Thompson advises turning a blank sheet of paper 90 degrees-from
portrait to landscape. In the center, draw an oval with the topic
written inside. Around the oval, write words and sketch images
related to the word. Then outline your thoughts from the paper.

Over the past few generations, work has become rote, machinated
and less mentally challenging. Turn it around, Thompson says. When
in meetings or brainstorming sessions, welcome new ideas-instead of
panning them outright.

"My mantra for all these years is to be curious first,
critical second," he says. "We forget when we hear an
idea to ask what's right about it first."

Top Ten Places to Get a Good
Idea

1. Taking a shower or bath. Psychologists believe water
has a mentally cleansing quality.

2. Driving (alone). The spatial orientation while
listening to monotonous sounds really kicks in the creativity after
30 minutes.

3. Sitting on the toilet. Some 90 percent of men
responded favorably to this venue. "I think men and women have
different views of the toilet," Thompson says.

4. Falling asleep or waking up. The "laconic
state" of pre- or post-sleep is ripe for ideas, thoughts and
worries to float around in your head. The left or analytical side
of the brain cuts out and the right side takes over, Thompson
says.

5. Boring meetings. Minds wander to more creative
thoughts in sessions that are too long, where too much info is
dumped on attendees, where not enough dialogue is created.

6. "Fun" reading. Read things that have nothing
to do with your work. Read fiction, or flip backward through
magazines.

7. Exercise. A walk or jog, or a trip to the gym becomes
a rote, mindless task that allows the mind to wander to more
creative things.

8. Waking up in the middle of the night. Just be prepared
to write ideas down or hit the office to get them onto the PC;
trusting such thoughts at such times to memory usually fails.
"There's the great advantage to the home office,"
Thompson admits.

9. Listening to a religious sermon. Autopilot (so to
speak) kicks in, the listener relaxes and the mind wanders. Just
don't break out your PDA and start taking notes.

10. Cutting the grass. A rote, monotonous chore with a
short duration and completion at the end of the project helps the
mind relax.